it's that dirty word again.....

So these last three weeks or so I have had this flu slowly creep up on me. Each week it gently engulfs me with a new symptom.  I had to go to the doctors 3 times, to target a different symptom, from body ache, fever, runny nose, diarrhoea (which I got I am sure because of the antibiotics) and sore throat.

Since I had to go to the doctors for the third time, I decided I to go see my old family doctor, who has known me since I was 7, and who looks after my thyroid issues.   His records showed  that I hadn't had a blood test to check my thyroid for 2 years.  And to throw in for good measure he also wanted to check my blood sugar levels….

Well today I got my results and my blood sugar levels are higher than normal….

 I am extremely diligent with what I up into my mouth, I am gluten intolerant so I avoid all types of  biscuits and cakes and confectionery, I eat a lot of fruit, veg and limit my carbs, eat only sweet potatoes, don’t drink sugary sodas and hardly eat any bread ( If I do eat bread its GF Bread)  Yes I indulge sometimes with fries and chocolate but its like once a month or so (and really I am not kidding here) …so how the bloomin hell do I still have elevated blood sugar levels!

Its that dirty word again….exercise! 

This time there is no avoiding the exercise, I have 3 months before the next blood test and I bloody well have to get off my backside and do something as I do not want it to develop into type 2 diabetes… 

oh the joys of getting older….

me... very soon

the 100 day challenge

So one of my friends recently posted an article on facebook, about  how we buy things we dont really need.

I am guilty of that.  I wander around the shops and convince myself that I need another blouse, tshirt, jeans or shoes...and end up spending money on things I dont need.

In the article, the person didnt buy anything new for 200 days ( see here for the article) which got me thinking.  Why do we have this insatiable need for new shiny things.  Boredom, that thrill of buying something new, like a reward we think we deserve..

I put myself on a challenge,  to not buy anything new for the next 100 days, and I am in day 14 of the challenge and it has been difficult.  I spent most of my adult life looking at my household budget to ensure we had enough money to last till the next paycheque.  When I finally had enough money set aside as savings, I began to spend more, on useless things I didnt need.  $300 on new tops, and dresses every 2 weeks, justifying to myself that I needed another top for work.

It had to stop, I had a cupboard full of clothes that I wasnt wearing and just because I had put on a bit of weight didnt mean I had to go buy more.... I still had enough clothes that fit me.
Its only been clothes and shoes that I spend extra on, as I prefer flea market finds to brand new for kitchen and house things.  My strange love of old telephones for instance, and the insane habit of looking for old enamel ware, so spending money on new dinnerware is not something I would do anyway.  But the clothes and shoes!  Enough was enough.

With Christmas around the corner, its going to be tough as the office started this secret Santa thing and we had to make our wish list and I have to get someone a 'new' gift.  no second hand things here! So for that one day I will have to cheat on my challenge and get that person a new gift and get one in return.  I did put in my wish list, food items which were part of my daily routine which in a way didnt make it new, if that makes sense...

so heres to reducing waste on clothes and wasting money on things I dont need...just 84 days to go.

dont ask if you dont want to know

There is something about having your say, having someone actually listen to your feedback, whether good or bad. Which is why I love doing surveys, giving feedback etc.  Must be my busy body personality....

the email that started it all....

When people send me a survey for feedback I respond, whether good or bad service,  I try to respond with a fair review.  If your bloomin email says to me, we value your feedback as we want to make it better, I respond, so I was surprised when Redmart, a grocery delivery service I use, responded to a review I sent, based on their email asking me for feedback, that I needed to "edit" my review" as it did not meet the website guidelines..

it was a negative review of the product, I just said the meat smelt bad by the time I got it and that they perhaps should look at the chillers they were using for delivery.

To be nice ( I can be nice sometimes) I thought why not, just edit and see what happens


it didnt let me edit my review,  I kept getting the response that I had already submitted a review....computer glitch?  user problem?  WTF?

2 steps back

This past week has been a disaster, I have been sick for a week and it keeps getting worse.
Finally went back to the doctor yesterday to get antibiotics and I headed home to rest.

Rest didnt quite happen as some fucker decided to renovate his home and it was jack hammer day yesterday... today is drilling day, how fun..

As I lie on the sofa, watching mindless drivel on the tv ( cant be bothered to try to watch anything else as the drilling and jack hammering means my headache is getting worse by the second)
I have to think about my future too.

When I switched jobs last year, I took a pretty hefty pay cut, but I worked a 4 day week and only one  job to do.  Then in May, the company asked if I would take over the office manager position as well.  I didnt quite think that through but accepted the job with more pay.  Now, the office I work in is a rather peculiar place , as Feng Shui plays a very important part in the overall scheme of things.  Which means as office manager I was worrying about trivial things that the boss thought were the most important.

I was worrying about water features that didn't quite work and the water feature's bubbles were  responsible for the decline of business ( dont laugh) , yellowing bamboo plants that meant that something bad will happen, lava lamps with bulbs no one carried and I had to run around finding bulbs and salt jars that had to be filled just right.
I do have an assistant to help me with all this but the constant worry about these things plus I had to battle with finance on cheques to pay the beer man (we have 3 beer taps in the office and I had to make sure they were full).  Add into the equation the fact that I had to sort the pantry, clear and organise the stationery store and of course the event store for props and things we use for events.

what i feel like doing

It took its toll on me.  I think back to why I took this job and it was so that I could spend more time doing things for me, and I seem to have lost my way.  I was not sleeping because of a stupid water feature's bubbles were not working. The one we ordered would only be delivered in 5 weeks and the boss was not happy.  So I quit.  well there was alot of yelling and although everyone says he wasnt yelling at me, as office manager I took the responsibility for the thing not working.  I take things to heart, I certainly do and I took this too personally, which is one of my weaknesses. Something i have to work on but at 54 do I really care....

the office MD and the COO spoke to me on Monday to ask me if I wanted to just go back to doing what I originally wanted to do, but I would go back to my original salary.
Now that pissed me off.  After one year of clearing up all the shit ( and there was alot to organise and clear) they want to keep me but as I was stressed all the time, it made sense for them to offer me this, but I felt hurt and a little insulted that they didn't seem to value me enough to offer me a bit more.
I got the usual talk about budgets for admin salaries blah blah and how the economy was doing and I was not the only one working so hard blah blah.

Which brings me to the question if I should stay or leave.  Am I being unreasonable to ask for a little more than what I was making or do I just suck it up and wait and see if in the new year, we get increments across the board.

I will probably stay, but i have to constantly remind myself to not give my usual 200%, I have to focus and give only what is expected as giving 200% always puts me on the losing end.
I am supposed to be looking at semi retirement now so a 4 day week and focusing on one job should be an ideal situation, so why  do I feel like I am taking 2 steps back.....

i am a dick sometimes...

I never professed to be perfect.

Far from it actually, and I accept that sometimes I am good and sometimes I can be a dick.  Yes women can be dicks too, quite often as a matter of fact.

definition of someone being a dick...

being an asshole, being stupid and just generally being an idiot

the last 2 weeks have been tough,  I forgot to take my pills to KL when I went for the MotoGP, pills like my thyroid, vitamin D and my herb supplements that I depend on to keep my mood swings and menopause symptoms at bay.  Which resulted a few days later to me me being hyper sensitive to anything that happened, and usually I end up in tears over nothing.  which as usual ends up me doing stupid things like quitting my job...

Yeah I know, I want to smack me too...

once calmness ensues and I see the world through drug induced serenity, I pass through the being a dick phase to what the fuck did i do phase..

Will I eat humble pie and hope the bosses know me well enough to know I was being a dick, or do I start looking for a new job... Stay tuned..

the trip to sepang

line up for shuttle on Saturday, my hotel up ahead

I left Singapore on Friday morning all eager to get to Sepang to see the free practice in the early afternoon.

46 - Rossi's number

When I reached Kl airport, it was raining, heavy... which left me very disappointed, bummed, upset...

So I thought that I should just head back into KL, check into the hotel and if the rain stops, I can catch the shuttle to the circuit.... well that didnt quite happen.


I got to the hotel checked in and from my window I could see the last shuttle leaving for the circuit.  I could have kicked myself.
I should have just gone straight from the airport to the circuit.
Lesson learnt.

view of garages and track

Saturday and Sunday turned out to be fabulous.
I met up with Luca, the Italian guy I met last year and we hung out together all weekend,   mostly right in front of the Yamaha garage to gawk at Valentino Rossi,  and gawk and act like fangirls we did...

What a weekend!

Am already looking forward to next year.

Rossi Fans 

other attractions - the PR guy...cute

Race start

the man himself - Valentino Rossi

more pics of sepang on my Flickr page here

conversations

with a taxi driver

Taxi driver   " so are you married"

Me  wondering why the hell they ask me that - " err no am divorced"  and why I answer I will never know.

Taxi Driver " divorced! why, should not divorce!"

Me - " he wasnt a very nice person, beat me and cheated alot of people"

Taxi Driver - " Its ok what! husband and wife sure got problem, its ok once in a while he beat you"

Me !!!!!??????

Taxi driver was a an older male...


With colleagues

Colleague 1 - "people say I look very strict"

Colleague 2 - " You?  No way, your face too soft,  People sure dont think that way about u"

Me - " No way, you have a baby face"

Colleague 1 - " really!  I thought I have that bitch face"  (Colleague 1 is male by the way)

Me - " no you dont.  Thats me, I have the resting bitch face....

Colleague 1  - giggles " actually Yah you do"

Me - !!!!???